WHY: 99% of foreclosures show questionable activity, 84% have a clear violation of the law, and over 2/3rd have four or more violations

PRESS RELEASE

OCCUPY PROTESTERS HELP ROWLAND HEIGHTS FAMILY SAVE HOME

Members of Occupy LA Respond to a last-minute notice from a family in need

LOS ANGELES – Members of the Occupy L.A. movement throw their support behind the Acosta family of Rowland Heights, who face possible eviction today due to a wrongful foreclosure.

In a last-minute attempt to save his family home, Eduardo Acosta contacted Occupy Long Beach Monday asking for help, after the Sheriff had posted an eviction notice effective Tuesday. This morning, an Occupy L.A. group called Occupy Fights Foreclosures (OFF), has issued a call asking supporters to assemble at the Acosta house.

In a judgment earlier this year, the Acosta family won their case due to fraudulent foreclosure paperwork. The judge ruled in that case that Green Century Investment Group / IndyMac did not have legal standing to evict the family or foreclose on the house. The banks simply waited a month and five days and sent another eviction notice.

“It’s been stressful since we got the letter,” said Eduardo Acosta. “We couldn’t sleep. We were up late hours thinking, what are we going to do with our family?”

Occupy activists rally in support of Acosta family less than a week after the San Francisco County Recorder released an audit report of foreclosures that shows systematic legal violations and questionable activities on 99% of the files they reviewed.

“We stand with the Acostas to try to stop their eviction and reverse the foreclosure,” said Carlos Marroquin, a homeowner advocate and OFF activist. “We believe the foreclosure has been done in a wrongful way.”

Occupy activists call for a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions until a full investigation of banks’ foreclosure practices is complete.

The San Francisco County Recorder audit shows that an estimated 99% of the foreclosures involve questionable activity, 84% of foreclosures involve clear violation of the law, and over two-thirds involve four or more violations of the law.

Marroquin also pointed to San Francisco County Recorder Phil Ting’s statement on the audit report, “Many of these actions, if not all of these actions, render many of these foreclosures invalid.”

Acosta— a grandfather whose household includes his wife, two adult children, a son-in-law, and two grandchildren— fell behind on the mortgage after several simultaneous adverse events: his wife fell ill, the family’s income took a dive, and their monthly payments shot up from $1600 to $2000.

Acosta applied for a loan modification based on reduced income attributable to the economic downturn, and increased expenses due to high medical bills. While the banks were reviewing the Acostas’ loan modification, they also initiated foreclosure proceedings—a process called “duel tracking”.

Acosta paid two separate individuals to help his family avoid foreclosure. Although both took the money he scraped up, neither helped in any tangible way.

Although they hired two supposed experts to help them, in the end the Acosta family lost out on all counts: The banks denied their loan modification application, decided to foreclose, and they lost money to scam artists.

“I’m sure there are a lot of people going through this,” Acosta said. “Let’s step up and help each other out.”